December 31, 2008

Meaku (notjustOk Hype)

notjustOk Hype will feature (or may be not) the future heavy hitters
in naija music. Any material featured in this category will be from
unsigned or up and coming Nigerian/African, artists/rappers that
contain nothing but promising content. There will only be a post a
month in this category.

If you have or know of anyones music that you feel is a hit or any good, please send an email to notjustokmusic with a link to their page or where I can download the song. ***If you can email me the song, please be sure to zip it first before sending it as an attachment***

Who is Meaku?Meaku is an individual who personifies the true meaning of music. As a young child, music was always in me, whether it was me just grooving to a song or either singing a song.

When did you start doing music and what inspired you?Whenever I would hear music that touched my soul I would go crazy, no one could tell me anything. It was as if music was my gatorade to life. Especially being raised in the Igbo, Nigerian culture (both of my parents are IGBO), going to parties literally every weekend, listening and dancing to jams from Osadebe, Oliver De Coque, Fela, Sir Warrior etc. These were true musicians that helped me create and formulate my sound, to give you what you hear today from me. Even though I was born and raised in Inglewood, California, I've always stayed true to my Nigerian heritage. It wasn't by choice that I was born in the United States, it was definitely a part of God's plan. I started singing at the age of 7, doing school talent shows. Back then my singing range was out of this world, then I hit puberty at the age of 13, my voice began to deepen to a point where I thought I lost my singing voice. So because of my voice change I didn't take music seriously until after I graduated high school at the age of 18. I now started training my vocals, with the help of my mentor LV (Grammy Award Winner with Coolio for hit song Gangstas Paradise), who saw my passion. The passion was always in me, but the inspiration most definitely came from LV. I started off writing music for his album through a parent writing company I used to work for. The company was so shady with business, LV decided to take me from that negativity and put me under his wing. So every day I was working on music, my passion grew stronger, because I knew I was in the right place.

What Genre of Music would you consider your music?Meaku is A Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Arranger/Recording Engineer, but apart from all of that, Meaku is a movement, which is being steered by God, with Meaku in passenger seat. With his R&B/Pop style of music, he is on the road for longevity.

What are you working on right now. Is there an album or a mixtape on the way?Meaku is currently working on his Album titled, "Who is Meaku?", set for release early 2009, which will show how flexible his sound is, and how he has incorporated so many different styles on one album. So definetly be looking out for the album, it will give you a more in depth view of "Who is Meaku?"

Comments

I can concretely say I'm a fan of Omeaku Chibuike Franklyn. His delivery is super-silky-smooth! G. Malone - formerly of Sony, but now signed to Cash Money Records - is a huge rapper in Cali, so this goes down as one of Naija's high-profile collabos.
If any Nigerian artist has a real chance of breaking into the U.S. market, its Meaku! He's most definitely worth the hype!